Plainfield school district budget shows a surplus

September 24, 2013|By Alicia Fabbre, Special to the Tribune

Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 School Board President Roger Bonuchi recognized Tripp Morrison and Max Molinari, both 11, for their support of the Creekside Cares backpack program. (Alicia Fabbre, Chicago Tribune)

For the first time in five years, Plainfield school officials have a budget that shows the district in the black.

Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 school board members approved the $242 million budget Monday. The budget includes a $960,000 operating surplus to start the year.

"It's good because it's a sign that things are starting to improve a little bit," district spokesman Tom Hernandez said. "However, it (the surplus) did not come without a cost."

Since 2009, the district has cut roughly $42 million in expenses. The cuts included delaying textbook purchases, changes in the busing system and eliminating about 345 full time positions that included teachers, support staff and administrators. Hernandez noted that all three employee groups also, at one point in the last five years, had their salaries frozen to help cut costs.

"We did what we had to do to get through a very difficult period," Hernandez said. "Hopefully, we are looking at a little light at the end of the tunnel that will allow us to do things that need to be done."

Though the budget shows a surplus, district officials remained somewhat cautious about the financial plan. Hernandez noted that the surplus could be affected if the state changes the amount it gives to schools for state aid.

The new budget figures state aid at 87.5 percent of reimbursable expenses—1.5 percent lower than the state's initial figure of 89 percent. Hernandez noted the state already has lowered its funding to schools to 88.7 percent—which means about a $150,000 loss in revenue for the district.

"We have to continue to control our expenses and budget very carefully," said Angie Smith, assistant superintendent for business and operations. "But it looks like things are starting to stabilize, and the future looks a little bit brighter."

The district's budget, which shows a $4.6 million increase in expenses over last year, includes funding for curriculum resources for the new Common Core standards curriculum, 1,000 new laptops needed for the new standardized assessment process and pay raises ranging from 1.5 to 2 percent for teachers, support staff, administrators and non-union staff.